The article I found was one about some how some mobile carriers in Australia are now have to give emergency organizations the location of a mobile phones in situations in which a person is not able to describe where they are. The Australian Communications and Media Authority released a consultation paper seeking comments on certain amendments to the law requiring mobile carriers to give this information. They also emergency service organizations are provided with designated contact points and telephone numbers for location queries and to identify which mobile network made the call. I found this article to be interesting because I do not know whether this is a good thing or bad thing. It is good because if a person is in need of medical attention but are not able to give their location, the mobile carrier would give the medics the caller’s location. It might be bad because they could one day decide to start tracking people that are not experiencing medical emergencies. Maybe I’m being overly cautious or overly critical. The point I’m trying to get is that we have to be very careful as to what we allow our mobile carrier to do and not to do as it relates to our right to privacy.
Ruben Velazquez 10/27/2010
Imagine a medium in which we can communicate almost instantaneously reports of natural disasters, critical news or any other piece of information. News that can serve the common good of people around the world could be reported faster than popular news networks could distribute it. The video below explains an innovative medium which is accessible through mobile devices with internet capability. Ushahidi is a channel in which people can disperse information that is up to date from bystanders of any event occurring in any part of the world. Access to this service through our mobile devices allows us to stay communicated to those in terrible situations or with valuable information.
Forget about those old annoying passwords that we always forget. The University of Manchester developed a facial recognition software for our cellphones that will replace PIN numbers and passwords and instead it will recognize the owner's face. The idea developed in the European Union allows your mobile to track your face in real-time. What else can we ask for to secure the information store in our cellphones? This is just a step forward to the future and a insight on how the mobile media will dominate the medium.
Elizabeth Hansen 10/29/2010
Since I love our old friend Champ I decided to share another video about "Texting While Driving." Since texting while driving is an ongoing issue, I thought it was appropriate to share this video. I will admit, that I am guilty of saying in my head "Ok, check for cops. Clear," before I proceed to illegally staring down at my cell phone while driving to read/replay to a text message with one hand on the steering wheel and the other texting with my thumb. I am sure many can relate to the time someone on the road cut you off or was driving too slow and after passing them you realize they are busy texting on their phones.We get mad/curse/yell at drivers when others are reckless due to texting; when we are guilty of doing it ourselves it's overlooked because we all think we're the expert at texting while driving. When in reality, if we continue to text while driving we will soon be sending "death texts." :(
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Alexander Lee Edmondson
10/27/2010
Regulator Wants Mobile Carriers to Give Triple Zero Location Data:
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/regulator-wants-mobile-carriers-to-give-triple-zero-location-data-20101028-174sl.html
The article I found was one about some how some mobile carriers in Australia are now have to give emergency organizations the location of a mobile phones in situations in which a person is not able to describe where they are. The Australian Communications and Media Authority released a consultation paper seeking comments on certain amendments to the law requiring mobile carriers to give this information. They also emergency service organizations are provided with designated contact points and telephone numbers for location queries and to identify which mobile network made the call. I found this article to be interesting because I do not know whether this is a good thing or bad thing. It is good because if a person is in need of medical attention but are not able to give their location, the mobile carrier would give the medics the caller’s location. It might be bad because they could one day decide to start tracking people that are not experiencing medical emergencies. Maybe I’m being overly cautious or overly critical. The point I’m trying to get is that we have to be very careful as to what we allow our mobile carrier to do and not to do as it relates to our right to privacy.
Ruben Velazquez
10/27/2010
Imagine a medium in which we can communicate almost instantaneously reports of natural disasters, critical news or any other piece of information. News that can serve the common good of people around the world could be reported faster than popular news networks could distribute it. The video below explains an innovative medium which is accessible through mobile devices with internet capability. Ushahidi is a channel in which people can disperse information that is up to date from bystanders of any event occurring in any part of the world. Access to this service through our mobile devices allows us to stay communicated to those in terrible situations or with valuable information.
What is the Ushahidi Platform? from Ushahidi on Vimeo.
Yhosibell Prieto
10/28/2010
Facial Recognition Comes to Smartphone
Face Recognition Comes to Smartphones
Forget about those old annoying passwords that we always forget. The University of Manchester developed a facial recognition software for our cellphones that will replace PIN numbers and passwords and instead it will recognize the owner's face. The idea developed in the European Union allows your mobile to track your face in real-time. What else can we ask for to secure the information store in our cellphones? This is just a step forward to the future and a insight on how the mobile media will dominate the medium.
Elizabeth Hansen
10/29/2010
Since I love our old friend Champ I decided to share another video about "Texting While Driving." Since texting while driving is an ongoing issue, I thought it was appropriate to share this video. I will admit, that I am guilty of saying in my head "Ok, check for cops. Clear," before I proceed to illegally staring down at my cell phone while driving to read/replay to a text message with one hand on the steering wheel and the other texting with my thumb. I am sure many can relate to the time someone on the road cut you off or was driving too slow and after passing them you realize they are busy texting on their phones.We get mad/curse/yell at drivers when others are reckless due to texting; when we are guilty of doing it ourselves it's overlooked because we all think we're the expert at texting while driving. When in reality, if we continue to text while driving we will soon be sending "death texts." :(